How we see life (our perspective) is driven from a series of beliefs that we acquired over time. Those beliefs drive our behavior/actions and thus provide the results (current reality) we see around us right now… When I was a young boy, I remember throwing rocks into the creek behind my grandparents house. After tossing a particularly rounded and cream-swirled stone into the creek, huge ripples began to emanate from its impact. In that moment, my Uncle Carl slid down the dusty bank and shared with me Newton’s 3rd law of motion. (In his own words…) “For every action there is an equal an opposite reaction.…” “Michael, life is a CHOICE.....You can CHOOSE to see each interaction at home, school, work and everywhere [...]

I’ve consulted with countless teams from various industries, sizes and levels of experience and I’ve found one test that will determine how well these teams will work together in THOSE moments. THOSE moments are the “Moments of Truth” for teams, when the “Rubber Hits the Road”, when the “Pressure is On” and when it’s “Make or Break” time. It’s called the “Booger in the Nose Test…” I know it sounds crazy, but stick with me for a minute… Top Teams provide feedback that is TIMELY, DIRECT, with TACT, and they are EMPATHETIC to their peers. Great teams will make sure to avoid putting their peers in an awkward situation, if they can avoid it, and will be the first to [...]

You know that annoying coworker who is upset at everything and everyone? They feed on DRAMA and they find the NEGATIVE in EVERY situation! “Can you believe the weather? Uhhhhh, it’s so COLD... I hate the cold weather...” “Well, Laurie, you have to look at the bright side... It could be WORSE!” “NOTHING could be worse than THIS...” Katie thought to herself... “You are RIGHT, NOTHING could be worse than WORKING with you everyday...” NO matter what you say to these people, they can always find the BAD. They point out the faults of others and cannot see their own reflection in the mirror! No matter what you [...]

Two monkeys are sitting under a palm tree just off the beach having a conversation… “I’m so tired of eating these sandy sweet potatoes! The sand gets in my mouth and crunches between my teeth…. Ughhh, how annoying!” “Hey, little brother, you should be happy that we have sweet potatoes. You’ll NEVERlike the crunch, but you’ll LEARN to live with it!” “Well, I just think there HAS to be a BETTER way…” “It’s been that way since before I was born and before our parents too. Don’t you think that if there was a better way, that one of the troop elders would have already discovered it?” The young monkey turned away from his older brother and walked off toward the beach. Within seconds a Sea Eagle [...]

An employee walks into his manager's office and says, “Hey Boss, there is a dead fish on my desk”. The leader lifts his head and slowly waves his hand and says, “Yeah, I know, just work around it for now…” and goes about his work. The employee goes back to his desk and continues working until the dead fish slime is oozing onto his work and the smell is burning his nostrils before he heads back into his bosses office. “Hey boss… can you do something about the dead fish on my desk? It’s tough to get my work done and it's giving me a headache…” His boss slams down his phone and says, “Can’t you ever be happy? I [...]